Washington Post Feature: Artibonite Self-Defense Brigades Now Complicate Path to Peace

A Washington Post feature published September 7, 2026 examined how self-defense brigades that emerged roughly three years ago to fight gangs in Haiti's Artibonite region have themselves become an obstacle to the U.S.-backed, U.N.-authorized Gang Suppression Force's (GSF) effort to restore state security. The report centers on "the Coalition" — described as a powerful group of murky origins, likely corresponding to the Coalition des Révolutionnaires pour Sauver l'Artibonite (also known as the Jean-Denis coalition) — which a 26-year-old Artibonite resident said she once viewed as a protector but which has since been accused of terrorizing the same communities it claimed to defend. A separate ACLED analysis of Haiti's vigilante landscape found such brigades have evolved since April 2023 from spontaneous mob violence into more organized armed militias running semi-permanent checkpoints and patrols, with some — including the Coalition — allegedly responsible for mass killings of suspected gang members (up to 150 in Petite Rivière in December 2024 and at least 55 in Préval in May 2025) alongside abuses against civilians. Haitian police have promoted a "police-population marriage" model of cooperation with self-defense groups, including facilitating weapons permits and tactical support, complicating the GSF's mandate to professionalize and consolidate armed security responses as it seeks to expand beyond Port-au-Prince.